NEWS
Follow UsYastika Bhatia heaped heavy praise on Sajeevan Sajana, calling her the Kieron Pollard of the Mumbai Indians Women's team. Playing her first Women's Premier League match, with five needed off the final delivery, the 29-year-old smoked a six to win Mumbai the first game of the 2024 WPL against Delhi Capitals in Bangalore on Friday (February 23).
"If you heard Harry di (Harmanpreet Kaur) speak in the interviews, she had called Sajana the player to watch out for in this WPL. Our team shows faith in her and she is like the Kieron Pollard of our women’s team. She did it really well today. Credit to her. She has an inspiring story and has come here from a humble background. We are all very happy and proud of her. Her family would be very proud when she hit that six today," said Bhatia after Mumbai's four-wicket win.
Also read: Sajeevan Sajana - Remember the name!
Chasing a target of 172, Mumbai lost Hayley Matthews and Nat Sciver-Brunt inside seven overs but that's when Bhatia put on 56 runs with skipper Harmanpreet. Bhatia scored 57 off 45 and did most of the scoring in the powerplay.
"Definitely, I felt it was a chasable score. The outfield had gotten faster and there was dew as well. I wasn’t thinking about the score or the balls or the runs. I was just playing the ball. I knew if I focused on the process, that thing would be taken care of," said Bhatia.
"When I went out to play today, I had all the freedom. The MI management always gives me the freedom to play all my shots and express myself. That was all I had in mind. Just wanted to powerplay to go well, and play the ball on merit. I want to do better. When I got out there was pressure on the other batter. I would like to bat longer and hopefully I can do that going ahead."
Talking about her role in the powerplay, the opener said: "Whenever I play in the powerplay, my role is to play the aggressor’s role so that there is no pressure on my partner. I usually love playing in the powerplay because there are only two fielders outside. I enjoyed my time out there."
Meanwhile, DC head coach Jonathan Batty backed Meg Lanning's decision to give the final over to Alice Capsey. The offspinner got the wicket of Pooja Vastrakar and well-set Harmanpreet but failed to defend 12 in the final over.
"It was harder to bat against the fast bowlers, so we tried to leave as many runs as possible for the last over. Capsey bowled a superb over, with 12 needing off 6, getting it down to 5 off 1. Meg Lanning is an outstanding captain and she went her gut feel. It was the right call," he said.
